DISPATCH – November 12, 2011 (Saturday; 10:30 a.m.)
Patchogue, NY
The Second Patchogue Arts Biennial is in the final throes of a three-week exhibition. Last night, I went and checked it out. I entered through "the back door" from inside Briarcliffe College (versus the formal front entrance) and walked into a wide-open gallery of contemporary art. The view was breathtaking.
The Biennial brings together artists from Brooklyn to the Hamptons. There are recent art school graduates to established artists who have exhibited internationally. Artists present several artworks or a single installation. Artist statements are provided in a Biennial catalogue or through an audio tour.
Here's some of the art that caught my eye:
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Ceramic sculpture by Rosanne Ebner.
"No Longer Retaining Water" by Rosanne Ebner, 2010. Stoneware.
"Top / Bottom / Other" by Ryan W. Turley, 2011. Wood, steel, 69 vanity mirrors, felt, stickers, cotton fabric with ink, 7'x9'x5' (Bed).
"Perfectly Lovely" by Iacopo Pasquinelli, 2011. Oil on panel.
"Girls, Long in Line in Color" by Maria Spector, 2011. Oil on canvas.
"Stairway to Nirvana" by Chris Delloiacono, 2011. Mixed Media (includes ceramics and wood).
Detail from "Stairway to Nirvana" by Chris Delloiacono.
"Carbon Series XIII" by Eliz Alahverdian, 2011. Graphite, encaustic, conte crayon.
"Anthybrids" by Nikki Romanello, 2011. Soap, aluminum.
Detail of "Anthybrids" by Nikki Romanello.
Detail of "Anthybrids" by Nikki Romanello.
"Pink Red Orange Explosion" by Carson Fox. Cast resin, pins.
"Planning for Home I" by Susan Newmark. Mixed Media.
"Planning for Home II" by Susan Newmark. Mixed Media.
Detail from "War Machine Trilogy" by Susan Newmark, 2009. Acrylic panel and collage on panel, 12 x 36 inches.
"My Mud Story" by Margaret DeLima. Acrylic on brown paper with papier-mâché figure, 80 x 36 x 3.5 inches.
Detail of "My Mud Story" by Margaret DeLima.
Other works worth noting are evocative photographs by Carla Shapiro of women's slips; a sublime video by Stephanie Dinkins, a video installation and wall sculpture (reed topo) by Winn Rea and drawings by Patricia Mamatos. "Mother's Lessons," a photograph by Vicki Ragan, depicts two angles of a dress form covered with black and white images of her family. Collaged into the work are "words of wisdom" written between the visual family history.
Three works by Alisha McCurdy. ("Dead Canary" on wall; "Untitled (Crucifix)" to right and "14 Canaries" in front. The drawing is charcoal and pastel on canvas. Materials in the other two works include fabric and antracite coal.
Detail from "14 Canaries" by Alisha McCurdy.
The Patchogue Arts Biennial is presented by the Patchogue Arts Council (PAC). Art is selected by a trio of representatives from three organizations in Patchogue. They are John Cino, chair of the Patchogue Arts Biennial 2011; Beth Giacummo, president of PAC; and Lori Devlin, Patchogue Village Trustee and a PAC board member.
The Biennial is designed to present a range of work by accomplished artists to Western Long Island, where art exhibitions are geographically far-flung, said Cino. Most of the art presented is contemporary art, which isn't typically exhibited in the majority of Nassau County and Suffolk County, said Cino. The hope of the Biennial is to introduce contemporary art to Long Islanders without requiring travel to NYC. The art selected may be challenging but is still accessible, Cino said.
The artists in both Biennials work mostly on Long Island or Brooklyn. The plan is to continue and hold the next installation in 2013.
"We've just started to break the tip of the iceberg of the creativity on Long Island," Cino said. "We could keep going for years without running out of talented artists to show."
BASIC FACTS: The Patchogue Arts Biennial 2011 remains on view through Nov 13, 2011. It is held at Briarcliffe College, Exhibition Hall, 225 West Main Street, Patchogue. www.PatchogueArtsBiennial.com.
A view of the Patchogue Arts Biennial 2011.
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© 2011 Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub. All rights reserved.